Finally, the endless promises about Xbox Live becoming the "YouTube of games" look to be coming true, with the GDC announcement of homebrew XNA games coming to XBLA.

As of last night, seven free demos of upcoming creations popped up to play - the highlight of which is this, a 2D, combo-based slasher called The Dishwasher: Dead Samarai. It's bloody marvellous, and if "the kids" are coming up with stuff like this all by themselves right now, we can only dream, about what sort of pure awesomeness will be on XBLA a few years from now.

Stunning or what? Amazing what you can do when taking "risks" and not having to consult a focus group. Suddenly, the "XNA scene" has gone from laughing stock to sizzling INNOVATION HOTBED overnight! Another six XNA demos are up for download now, too - although they'll be taken down in a couple of weeks so you can eventually pay proper money for the full versions.

You need a hard drive in order to play the demos - which are accessible using the previously pointless XNA Launcher on your Xbox 360 dash. Get to it. You are witnessing the dawn of a brave new era of independent bedroom development that will bring about the destruction of EA and Activision by about 2013.

(Via Major Nelson)

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